Freshwater Plants, Freshwater Planted TanksDo you grow freshwater plants in your aquarium? This is the forum for you! Freshwater plant species, freshwater plant lights, freshwater plant water additives, chemistry, and plant nutrition. This forum is also a place to discuss plant-safe fish, CO2 dosing, nutrients, fertilizer, substrates, and other topics of interest to those keeping planted aquariums.

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im new into fish keeping and i want to get into plant keeping. my question is: what is the hardiest plant that is pretty common to buy? also, can plants be kept in pots if you dont have the right kind of substrate?

There are 3 easy plants that dont require substrate, java fern, java moss and bananna plants. My girl grows them all in 5 gallon guppy tank wtih a 10 watt 5600k bulb. Moss gets messy, ferns are easy just tie them to a peice of drift wood or a rock, make sure the roots are not burried and they will grow like wild fire.

The banana plants are hit or miss, i was in a store and i watched them unpack a dozen fresh gorgeous ones, i took 6 of them cut all the leaves off, within 2 weeks all the plants have atleast 2 fully grown leaves on them. Did u burry yours?
This is the one I gave her for her 5 gallon marinland guppy tank. Nothing special at all to help grow plants and the leaves were cut off the day it was put in the tank.

do plants take ammonia out of the water? i heard this somewhere but i dont believe it!

Believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Plants actually prefer to consume ammonia and use less energy doing that then consuming nitrates.

This has IMHO huge ramification not only for the initial cycle but for long term stability of the tank. During the initial cycle the plants will prevent almost totally the usuall ammonia and nitrIte spikes. For long term stability consider that something goes bump in the night. Fish dies, over feeding whatever. The resulting ammonia is consumed by the plants preventing dangerous high ammonia spikes that can crash the entire tank.

And don't forget the plants also suck out the carbon dioxide and return oxygen. So that every 24 hour period the tank becomes a net consumer of carbon dioxide and producer of oxygen.

Plants actually prefer to consume ammonia and use less energy doing that then consuming nitrates.

This has IMHO huge ramification not only for the initial cycle but for long term stability of the tank. During the initial cycle the plants will prevent almost totally the usuall ammonia and nitrIte spikes. For long term stability consider that something goes bump in the night. Fish dies, over feeding whatever. The resulting ammonia is consumed by the plants preventing dangerous high ammonia spikes that can crash the entire tank.

And don't forget the plants also suck out the carbon dioxide and return oxygen. So that every 24 hour period the tank becomes a net consumer of carbon dioxide and producer of oxygen.

Just my rant

Worth at most .02

oh wow really? dang now i REALLY want to get some plants for my 10 gallon thats cycling! lol

oh wow really? dang now i REALLY want to get some plants for my 10 gallon thats cycling! lol

Remember that if you are fishless cycling, do not use plants during the cycle and only add it afterwards. You only add plants if you are cycling WITH fish. Also it has to be fast growing plants in order to reduce ammonia and nitrite spikes, and a lot of them.